Rating: 
Summary: A terrific post-quest character-driven adventure
Review: I discovered John Marco for the first time with The Eyes of God. As several reviewers here have already mentioned, the book gets better as you get deeper into it. Marco has a plain, straight-from-the-heart simplicity that's very easy to read, and even easier to like a lot. I'm looking forward to the sequel, The Devil's Armor. And I hope he finishes the third book quickly too. This is the first time I've ever bought a series fantasy novel from a series that isn't finished and I both love and hate the waiting! Meanwhile though, I will be reading his earlier series, Tyrants and Kings. I already have the first book, The Jackal of Nar, but my 14-year old son's already pounced on it!
Rating: 
Summary: Don't let the cover fool you
Review: I don't often write reviews, but there are more than a few good reviews here, and I felt I owed it to everyone to warn them of this terrible, terrible book. I bought it on a whim; affected, I suppose, by the lone knight reflecting on his life's path on the cover, and the (clever marketing) title which evokes an inexplicable emotional response. What I found was a book that was not only lacking in originality, but also lacking in characters a reader could empathize with or care about. It starts with a love triangle between a king, his beautiful bride, and his knight-protector. Sound familiar? It should. Of course, Marco uses this familiarity to skip adding any real depth to the relationships to make us feel the emotions he tells us they are feeling. Why bother? We read it already in the Morte D'Arthur. The characters are shallow, selfish and wooden, and frankly, they all deserve what they get. There are hints that a grander story is in the background, so I patiently (and stubbornly) waded through the LONG, BORING sections, filled with sentence fragments and frustratingly poor English, in hopes of a good payoff. Sadly, this was not to be. The BIG SECRET at the end is unimpressive and unoriginal. I was more impressed by The Island of Misfit Toys in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer than I was by the fabulous Grimhold. John Marco seems to have the failing of many new authors: delusions of grandeur. In addition to poor English, two-dimensional characters and his habit of ignoring the few good avenues his stories create, he tends to dodge opportunites to be profound or really say something. For instance, his characters finally meet the elusive and mysterious Witch of Grimhold, but whenever they ask her anything, she smiles patiently and says "You have many questions." This happens several times, and is clearly the author stalling and trying to make her continue to seem mysterious and wise when, in fact, he simply doesn't have anything profound for her to say. When he does finally have her spill the beans on what's going on, you will likely find yourself cursing the hours you wasted getting to it. I imagine that his intention in this story is the redemption of Lukien, his fallen knight, but I don't ever see that Lukien is deserving of redemption. He is entirely selfish, coveting the queen, murdering innocents, and basically doing whatever he wants. Even when seeking forgiveness, he is doing it for selfish purposes, to make himself feel better, and not out of a real desire to make amends. The only protagonist in the story who is not utterly despicable is young, crippled Gilwyn, who does not appear until the second half of the (784 page) book, and remains, for all his likability, as two-dimensional as the other characters. He is endearing only because of his innocence and his deformities, leaving the reader feeling manipulated by a somewhat clumsy hand.
Rating:
Summary: Great start to a new series!!
Review: I generally don't read SF/F, I'm generally a romance reader, but I was in the bookstore and saw this book on the new release table and it just drew me in. The cover is beautiful and bold and the book jacket was intrigueing. I was hooked from the first page. I couldn't put it down. I read it in three nights. What I loved about it was the wonderful character development and the romantic elements. This isn't your typical good vs evil story. Nobody is truly evil or truly good, lots of shades of gray. There were so many nuances. Pick this book up!! You won't be disappointed!!
Rating:
Summary: It's simple--this is a great book
Review: I have read all of John Marco’s books and have happily watched him steadily improve with each one. There is no question in my mind that this is his best book yet. Not only is it better written than his earlier efforts, it is much more appealing in a standard fantasy way than his first series. Marco has become a master of characterization. He brings the moral ambiguity of a George Martin to a whole new level. While the first third of the book seemed like pretty standard stuff, it was all just a setup. To quibble with the reviewer below, this is not a retelling of the Arthurian level. Yes, there are times it seems like that but it isnt. I’m not sure why it was done this way honestly because it may confuse some readers, but it works for me and had me guessing the whole time. There’s no point in my rehashing the story here or giving anything away. Just let it be said that Marco has reached a pinnacle with this brilliant book. I am his devoted fan.
Rating:
Summary: Second Series From Newer Author as Refreshing as First
Review: I have waited eagerly for the past year to read John Marco's new novel The Eyes of God, the start of a brand new series, and could not have been happier with the end result. Continuing and even somehow managing to improve upon the fantastic style Marco introduced the Tyrant and Kings trilogy, The Eyes of God was the perfect example of a page turner that fills you with nonstop emotions and doesn't allow you to stop. Since the brief diescription of the story is given above, I will nto go into the details, but I must say that the synopsis does not do the book justice. The premise in the synopsis is just a small part of the 800 page volume, and the story takes many twists and turns that lead it away from what seems at first the King Arthur style love story. By the end of the book, I doubt any reader will be able to stick with his initial feelings about characters, since they change so drastically in light of the many events that occur in the novel. These are characters that inspire a reader to love, respect, hate, and most of all, understand, even when the deeds they do are at their darkest. Although at times I found the novel to be slightly depressing, for me it added to the total atmosphere. by the time I had finished, there were many moments that I wished I coudl change, but such is life, and I believe the author truly captured that aspect, making the novel feel more real than many others in this genre. If you read it and feel it is taking on to dark of a tone, I suggest continuing, for their are period in the novel that are uplifting as well, and in the end all is not that bad. In conclusion, if you are a fan of more fantastical fantasy, along the lines of Shannara or Midkemia, I would say these may seem slightly harsh and dark to you, if you have never read outside these lines. However, if you are a fan of the darker, politically turmoiled worlds of George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones, which capture a harsh sense of reality and yet demonstrate love and friendship as well, then this is definitely a novel to read, and I would say is at least as enjoyable to read if not more so than many others of its kind. It is a masterpiece of modern fantasy, and any true fan of the genre would be a fool not to pick it up. I'd also reccomend reading Marco's first series, if you have not, though it has no connection to this series, since it is an equally entertaining and satisfying story in itself. I'm looking forward to reading the next book, and hope to see more of this incredible writing in the future.
Rating:
Summary: Livin' La Vida Lukien!
Review: I love this book and I love the main character, the Bronze Knight Lukien-my new favorite fantasy character! Here's a multi-faceted hero who makes mistakes but always winds up on the good side. Romance readers will like this book because its deep and compelling, and because the love story really works. At its core, this is a book about love and the power of love. We see the story through Lukien's eyes and get to see his rise and fall. The story spans years, and his transformation from icon to fallen hero is devastating at times but uplifting in the end. Kudos to John Marco for creating such an effective tale. Long live Lukien!
Rating: 
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: I picked up this book because the summary on the jacket sounded intriguing, but there's something the summary didn't prepare me for: this story is DARK. It should have come with a little packet of Prozak. That said, it's a good story; it kept me guessing at every turn, and the writing is solid and moves along at a decent pace.
For me, Akeela was what brought the novel to life. He's a fully-realized character, one who is beloved by thousands yet deeply lonely, both courageous and vulnerable. His descent into madness is chilling and all too believable.
I was less enthused with Lukien and Cassandra. They, too, are three-dimensional characters with both good and bad qualities, but they irritated me. Lukien comes across as manipulative at times. Example: "If you don't come with me you'll be saying you don't care about me," said to Cassandra when they're about to run off to the orchard.
Now, re-reading the summary on the jacket, I roll my eyes: "Lukien's loyalty to the king knew no limits..." Yeah, except when it comes to sleeping with his wife. And how many times must we be subjected to the "woman marries the sweet nerd but falls in love with his hunky brother/friend/whatever" cliche? Believe it or not, there ARE some women who prefer a man with vision and intelligence to one with hairy pecs and a big sword.
Rating:
Summary: The Eyes of God by John Marco
Review: I purchased this book and its sequel at the same time on the strength of the back-cover blurb. I won't ever make that mistake again. The writing is deeply, deeply terrible. The character's actions are completely at odds with the way they are described - the battle-hardened Lukien, whose life is war weeps every time a minor character dies - and we are constantly told, not shown, how we should be perceiving characters. If you have an extremely high tolerance for Terry Goodkind's worst, most pedantic writing you could conceivably enjoy this book. If you're looking for an intricately plotted, well-written work of epic scale to rival George R. R. Martin or Raymond E. Feist...look elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Inconsistent, depressing but dynamic
Review: I really like the first half of Eyes of God, but by the second half, was so depressing and inconsistent I had to grit my teeth to keep from crying out in despair. Eyes starts of well enough, as the heartwarming story of the friendship between two young men: the smart and innovative Akeela, and the jock-knight Lukien. Nothing particularly original, but some great dialog between these characters. When Akeela is betrothed to the beautiful Cassandra, he mistakenly entrusts her to Lukien's care. As you might expect, Cassandra and bad-boy Lukien fall in love, betray Akeela in true Arthurian fashion, all the while protesting 'how much they love and respect him as a brother' Puhleeeze. As if this rather stereotypical plot device was bad enough, Akeela conveniently goes mad, adding justification for adultery, and fuel to an Lukien's rather stellar Catholic Guilt meter. Watching the central characters constantly betray and hurt each over and over, was not particularly fun. While the intentions were good, the decisions made by most of these characters were bad. Can supposedly intelligent characters make consistently stupid mistakes? Apparently so. The only character I particularly liked was Akeela and the author warped him so much you won't recognize this character by part two. He is reduced to a cardboard cutout insane villain of the I'm so eeeeeeeeeeeevilll variety. Tack on some silly plot in the final quarter about a mystical city of outcasts who use spirit guides to compensate for various disabilities (interesting but should belong in an entirely different book, as it had very little to do with the first half) and you have a seven-hundred page downer. Still, even this might have been excusable, if there had been a better resolution to the Akeela/Lukien/Cassandra relationship, which I felt was the core aspect and heart of this book. Good, but not great. Character development had great potential but left me with a very dissatisfied feeling.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: I stumbled across this book purely by accident at a used book store. After reading the LOTR many times and other books by Tolkien, as well as everything by Robert Jordan, and Terry Goodkind, I had a really difficult time finding authors of the same caliber. I found book after book that had elves and dwarves and other similar creatures that were blatant Tolkien rip offs. The only thing I was disappointed about was that it didn't have a map of this world. However, this writer is so descriptive, that I have no problem creating a map in my mind. Although I have not yet finished this book, I look forward to reading more of this authors books--even if I have to pay full price!
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